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Monday, October 18, 2010

Musée des Egouts de Paris

This weekend I finally went to the Musée des Egouts de Paris (Paris Sewers Museum), which I have been wanting to do for years, especially after having read Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, and just haven't gotten around to until now.

display on sewer inhabitants...

The museum is located in the sewers and is actually pretty interesting. At the beginning there is a somewhat boring display on water in Paris - how it circulates, how it gets to our apartments, how it is cleaned, etc - but then there is a large and interesting display on the history of the sewage system in Paris, starting in the Gallo-Roman period and continuing to present day.

a main sewer tunnel

access tunnel

Since the museum is located in a section of the actual sewer system you also get to see the different kinds of sewage tunnels and you get to have an idea of how the system actually works. The only problem is the somewhat unpleasant smell, but it's not too bad.

smaller sewer tunnel

All in all, an interesting and different museum which is definitely worth a visit!